Humanitarian assistance is governed by Act No. 151/2010 Coll. on international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance abroad. Humanitarian assistance abroad is a summary of activities financed from the state budget, aiming to prevent loss of life and injury, alleviate suffering and restore basic living conditions after the occurrence of incidents and mitigate long lasting consequences of emergencies and prevent their occurrence and negative effects.
Humanitarian aid includes both ad hoc response to natural or human-made disasters, and aid in long-term (complex) humanitarian crises and disaster prevention.
State humanitarian aid to foreign countries is financed from funds allocated in the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The following forms of humanitarian assistance abroad can be financed from this budget:
· providing the necessary material assistance in the form of a gift to the affected area after the incident
· financial donations abroad
· financial contributions for public institutions and non-profit organizations abroad
· contributions to international organizations and integration groups,
· subsidies to non-governmental non-profit organizations in the Czech Republic to provide humanitarian assistance to foreign countries outside the European Union and European Economic Area,
· participation in international rescue operations and sending rescue experts with the necessary equipment in accordance with Act No. 239/2000 Coll. on Integrated Rescue system, as amended.
According to Article 9 of Act No. 151/2010 Coll., on international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance abroad, the Ministry of Interior provides humanitarian assistance to EU member states and other states of the European Economic Area and decides on its scope and form.
In 2013 the total of 73 million CZK was allocated for humanitarian assistance to foreign countries. During 2013, 27 humanitarian projects in 30 countries were supported. The largest share of the budget for humanitarian aid (almost 40%) was allocated to help conflict-affected population in Syria and refugees from Syria to Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.
The financial humanitarian assistance was provided to following countries: Afghanistan, Burma, South Sudan, DR Congo, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Mali, Honduras, Central African Republic, the Philippines, India, Iran and Somalia.
Expert humanitarian assistance was provided twice in 2013. For both operations, Cpt. Miroslav Lukeš, member of FRS of Karlovy Vary Region, was nominated.
In August 2013, Cpt. Lukeš joined the team of the European Union Emergency Response Coordination Centre to preventive mission in Nigeria, which is often stricken by extensive flooding. The main objective of the mission was to provide expertise and advice to local authorities on how to improve their capacity in preparedness and response to emergencies related to floods.
In December 2013, Cpt. Lukeš participated in the mission in Philippines that were affected by Typhoon Haiyan. The European Union has sent three teams to the Philippines - Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. Cpt. Lukeš was member of Charlie team as a deputy commander of the team. The main task of the team was to support activities of local authorities in the affected areas, assessing the needs of the population and income support and distribution of humanitarian assistance from participating states of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
Detailed information about humanitarian assistance not only in the year 2013 can be found on www.usar.cz.